Feed-gage for printing-presses.



W. B. MARTIN.

FEED GAGE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. IQIs.

l l 97,645 Y Patented Sept'. 12, 1916.

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WILLIAM IB. MARTIN, OF SALT LAKE CITY, 'UTAH'.

FEED-GAGE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratenteasept. 12, 1916.

Application filed March 20, 1916. Serial No. 85,411.

To @ZZ w 7mm t may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing .at Salt Lake City, in the county of Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed- Gages for Printing-Presses; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to feed gages such as are used on tympan sheets of platen printing presses.

The main object of the invention is to provide a gage or paper guide of this character of the snap-on principle which may be quickly applied and which is equipped with means for preventing the sheet to be printed from being fed under the guide.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character so constructed that after being attached to the tympan sheet, the paper stop or engaging member may be quickly and nicely adjusted to conform to sheets of varying sizes without changing the position of the gage proper on the sheet.

Another object is to provide a gage having an adjustable stop and a locking lever therefor having cooperating means whereby the stop is held against lateral movement and the lever housed to prevent the passage of paper between it and said stop and which serves as means for securing an auxiliary stop in position to prevent a curled sheet of paper from slipping over the top` of the guide.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 represents a perspective view of this improved gage shown applied to a portion of a tympan sheet; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof showing an auxiliary guiding strip used in connection therewith; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4: is a plan view of the blank from which the body portion of the gage is formed; and, Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment illustrated the 1mproved feed gage or guide l constituting this invention is shown mounted on a tympan sheet T such as is used in connection with the platen of printing presses.

The gage comprises a body portion 2 which is Ypreferably constructed of a single plate of substantially T-shaped sheet metal as shown in Fig. 4, the shank 3 of which constitutes the base plate of the body portion and is substantially rectangular in form, the head of the T-shaped plate being bent upwardly at its connection with said shank to form an upstanding rear flange 4L .and the projecting side members or arms of said head are bent laterally inward at right angles to the flange 4 to form side members 5 and 6 of the body portion of the gage proper. These side members 5 and 6 have their lower or inner edges spaced slightly from the side edges of the base plate 2 to provide for the insertion of said plate through a slit in the tympan T when the device is applied as is shown clearly in Figs.

l and 4, the lower edges of said arms being shown cut at 6 for this purpose. The free ends of the members 5 and 6 are spaced inwardly from the front edge of the plate 2 and have a clamping lever 7 pivotally mounted between them. The free edge of this plate 2 is.v rounded and beveled on its upper face to form a knife edge as shown at 8 to facilitate the entrance of said plate through the tympan sheet.

The clamping lever 7 is shown substantially L-shaped in cross section and is provided at its side edges at the connection of the two arms thereof with laterally extending pintles 9 which are made integral with the lever and extend through the side members 5 and 6 which are provided with apertures l0 to form bearings for said pintles. These pintles are shown substantially rectangular in cross section and have their upper edges beveled on their front faces as shown at 9a to adapt them to follow the curvature of the apertures 10 when rotated and to provide each with a knife edge 9b for engagement with the upper wall of the aperture 10 (see Fig. 5) when the lever is i-n locking position. This locking plate or lever 7 spans the space between the arms 5 and 6 of the body portion of the gage, and the free front end thereof is provided with an upturned longitudinally extending tongue 1l which is designed as anger grip for operating the lever and also for oonnection with an adjustable stop 12 now to be described.

The adjustable stop 12 is shown constructed from a single metal plate of a width substantially corresponding to the distance between the side members 5 and 6 of the body portion of the gage and which may be of any suitable or desired length being shown longer than the base plate 2 of the body portion of the gage and having an upwardly extending stop 13 at its rear end, said stop being herein shown in the form of a flange bent upwardly from the rear portion of the plate from which the stop is composed. The front portion of the plate constituting the stop member 12 is folded laterally on itself and said folded portion extended upwardly in a plane substantially at right angles to the body portion 12 of the stop which is slidably mounted on the base plate 2. This upstanding folded portion of the plate 12 constitutes the stop proper 14 which is designed to be engaged by the paper fed to the press and form a guide therefor. This upstanding stop 14 extends at its opposite ends beyond the side edges of the plate 12 and said ends are curved rearwardly to facilitate the insertion of the sheets of paper, and prevent the edge of the paper from engaging therewith during its feeding into the press which would cause the crumpling or displacement of the sheet to be printed. EX-

tending forwardly from the lower edge of the stop 14 flush with the plate 12 of the stop are a plurality of attaching fingers 15, three of which are here shown and which taper to points at their front ends, having their side edges beveled on their upper faces as shown at 16 so that when engaged with the tympan sheet they will lie substantially in the same plane as said sheet to prevent the sheet of paper fed in from engaging therewith. This plate 12 is preferably roughened on its bottom to prevent it from slipping such as might occur when heavy paper is being used.

In the use of this improved gage the base 2 of the gage is inserted under the tympan sheet T by passing the beveled front edge 8 thereof through a slit S formed in the tympan sheet and the gage is moved inwardly until the upstanding rear wall or flange 4 engages the adjacent wall of the slit through which said base is inserted as is shown clearly in Fig. 1. After the gage has been so placed the adjustable stop member 12 is moved in or out of the body portion of the gage to position the upstanding stop proper 14 thereof at the desired point for guiding the sheets of paper to be fed. and after the proper position thereof is determined the central finger 15 is inserted through the tympan sheet and disposed on the lower face thereof with the two end fingers arranged on top of the sheet thereby securely connecting the stop with the sheet. W'hen this stop has been so positioned the locking lever 7 is swung downwardly into the position shown in Fig.'2 whereby the free edge of the clamping member 7 with the plate 12 of the adjustable stop member owing to the engagement of the knife edges 9b with the upper walls of the openings 10 and securely clamps said plate 12 between said member 7 and the base plate 2 of the gage proper. The mounting of said lever in the free ends of the arms 5 and 6 aords a resilient gripping engagement of the member 7 of the lever with the plate 12 owing to the edgewise yielding of said arms, the tendency of said arms to move inwardly, toward the base member 3 serving to hold the lever member 7 in engagement with said plate. Vhen this lever is swung downwardly the tongue 11 thereof will enter a recess 17 formed in the upper edge of the stop 14 and which is of a width substantially equal to the width of said tongue and of a depth corresponding substantially to the thickness of said tongue so that when said tongue is disposed in said recess it will be completely housed and no obstruction presented either above or below the tongue and which will prevent the paper fed into the press from passing between the tongue and the stop 14. This connection of the tongue and stop 14 also serves to hold the stop member 12 against lateral movement and the yielding gripping engagement of the lever member 7 with the plate 12 when the lever is in locked position causes the tongue 11 of said lever to have a resilient clamping engagement with the stop 14 disposed in its path.

Should it be desired to employ a longer tongue than the one commonly used, to prevent curled sheets of paper from sliding over the top of the guide, a strip of cardboard shown at 18 or other material may be vdisposed between the tongue 11 of the clamping lever and the wall of the recess 17 and so held in position to effect the purpose for which it is desired. This auxiliary or extension tongue 18 may be used when found necessary and readily detached and discarded when not desired.

I claim as my invention:

1. A feed gage for printing presses comprising a base plate for insertion under a tympan sheet, a clamping lever carried by said plate, a plate slidable on said base plate between it and said clamping lever and havmg an upstanding stop at its front end, and cooperating means on said upstanding stop Yand said lever whereby the stop is held against lateral movement and the passage of a sheet of paper between said lever and stop prevented.

thereof is forcibly engaged 2. A feed gage for printing presses com-30 prising a base plate, a clamping lever carried by said plate, an adjustable paper stop mounted between said plate and lever and comprising a plate having a stop at its rear end to prevent its accidental separation from the gage, and an upstanding stop at its front end extending transversely of said plate and a plurality of forwardly projecting ngers arranged at the base of said upstanding stop and in the same plane as the slidable plate.

3. A feed gage for printing presses comprising a base plate having upstanding side members terminating at their front ends at points spaced inwardly from the front edge of said plate, a clamping lever fulcrumed in said side members, said lever being substantially L-shaped in cross section and having a longitudinally extending tongue at its front end, a plate slidable on said base plate between it and said lever and having an upstanding transversely extending stop flange with a recess in its upper edge to receive the tongue of said lever when in locking position and attaching fingers extending in advance of said upstanding flange.

4. A feed gage for printing presses comprising a body portion composed of a substantially T-shaped blank with the head thereof bent laterally at right angles, and the side members or arms of said head bent inwardly at right angles to the head portion forming side members for the gage with their lower edges spaced slightly from the side edges of the shank of said member which constitutes the base plate of the gage, an L-shaped clamping lever fulcrumed between said side members, and an adjustable stop mounted to slide on said base plate between it and said lever, said stop comprising a plate having one end bent laterally to form a stop'for limiting the forward movement of the plate, and its other end folded upon itself to form a laterally projecting stop fiange positioned on the same side of said plate as the limiting stop thereof, the free lower edge of said folded portion being extended forwardly in a plane at right angles to the folded portion and serrated to form attaching fingers, said upstanding stop flange having a recess positioned to receive the free end of said lever.

5. A feed gage for printing presses comprising a base plate having upstanding side members provided with alined bearings, a clamping lever having locking and clamping members disposed at an angle to each other with pintles extending from the opposed edges of the clamping member and engaged with said bearings, said pintles each'having a knife edge extending in a direction diametrically opposite to the clamping edge of the clamping member and a paper stop slidably mounted between the clamping member of said lever and said base plate and adapted to be held in adjusted position by said lever.

6. A feed gage for printing presses comprising a base plate having upstanding side members provided with alined bearings, a clamping lever having right angularly disposed locking and clamping members, pintles extending from the side edges of said clamping member and engaging said bearings, said pintles being substantially rectangular in cross section with their upper edges beveled on their front faces to form knife edges to facilitate the clamping engagement of said clamping lever member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM B. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

CARL A. BADGER, BENJAMIN L. RICH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Yatents, Washington, D. C. 

